Is The Front Becoming Fun? Part II

By Neba-Fuh

The preamble of the Manifesto of the Social Democratic Front(SDF) highlights amongst other vices: 'humiliation of Cameroonians, oppression, hypocrisy and confusion' as some of the triggers that necessitated the creation of the Front.
The founding fathers' holistic approach to the Cameroonian problems, had replaced the original agenda of the idea of a platform to address the Southern Cameroons struggle. A vision had been ditched and a national political party the SDF emerged.

Biya's repressive regime had rendered the whole nation economically desperate, by continuously plundering the public treasury . The  world economic crisis then, exposed the gravity of corruption and managerial malpractices the Yaounde oligarchy had been undertaking, unchecked. Poverty-stricken French speaking Cameroonians had no option but to espouse any political entity that had an alternative, different from the status quo.

The wave of multipartyism was on the move, and SDF was unarguably the major part of that ripple effect of the changing political scene. The grassfield people of the Western province(region) joined in, then the South West, Littoral, and other provinces. A grass root movement had been borne out of the sufferings of Cameroonians. Linguistic or cultural differences were not what mattered then. Ni John Fru Ndi, with his characteristic Pidgin English would connect with the masses at his heavily attended rallies, even in the heart of French speaking  Cameroon. The euphoria was unstoppable. The climax was the controversial 1992 Presidential Elections which many believed was won by the SDF candidate, Ni John Fru Ndi.

The warm-up to multipartyism in Cameroon in the nineties, especially the launching of the Front  was characterized by resistance from the regime. It is on record that top government officials like the then Minister of Territorial Administration, Mboumbou Njoya publicly chastised people from the English speaking regions of Cameroon to go back to their 'homeland'  if they were displeased with their 'host' nation- Republic of Cameroon. Where could that 'homeland' be?

The extreme repressive measures adopted by the regime to counter the popular uprising during the aftermath of the 1992 elections, evident by the declaration of a state of emergency in the North West province, showed the regime's resolve to clamp down any political dissent that was emanating from Bamenda and spreading throughout Cameroon.
Biya had just succeeded to seize an election victory he failed to win. Everything being equal, Ni John Fru Ndi, a little known bookseller of the English speaking region of Cameroon, who had savoured electoral defeats in his  bids to be elected to parliament during the one party era, would have become the  President of 'Cameroon two year after launching the SDF.

Despite only two years of existence, the 'Front' attained the apex of its history , and thereafter its decline has been steep.
The causes of this decline cannot be dissociated with:
1)The initial distortion of the original focal point of the Front.

2)The application of civilized political opposition strategies like boycotts, in a declared authoritarian set-up, where the impact is always downplayed, using other dictatorial vices.

3)The neglect of the grass root base in favour of the self-proclaimed elite stratum of the party, who most of the times have manipulated its leadership for selfish reasons.

4) The overbearing personality cult by its leadership resulting to its staleness with respect to ideas and innovations

5) The adaptation of a 'seminary-like' discipline on militants with strong opposing opinions within the party on issues under debate, using the legal premise of executing the so called article 8.2 of the SDF constitution.

6) The regime's manipulative speed brakes on the party's routes to market its ideology, sometimes using direct repression on militants, as well as its perpetual attempt to 'regionalize' the party and tag it 'an anglophone outfit'; thereby discouraging most of the 'francophones' who previously supported the 'Front'.

7) Continuous reduction of communication link along the strata of the party, that is, from hierarchy to the common man...undermining the initial slogan of "power to the people".

8) Egocentrism, regionalism, tribalism, nepotism, corruption, backstabbing  etc have cropped up in the Front.

9)Disgruntled militancy usually adventurous individuals whose political ambitions, might have been stifled by the party's inability to take over power, tend to decamp and move to other political grounds.

10)General apathy by the main political actors- the voters, caused by false electoral promises , uneven electoral field due to the regime's rigging machinery, and lack of real opposition leadership.

It will take more than an article in a blog like this one to elaborate on the above points in details, but without doubt, the dwindling effect of the Social Democratic Front on the Cameroonian political arena, cannot be untangled from the fact that the 'party' and its leaders originated from  Southern Cameroons. Even though the euphoric 1992 presidential elections may seem plausible to humble this  claim, it is strongly believed that as the years go by, despite the continuous  sufferings of many Cameroonians East of the Moungo, the regime has still manipulatively portrayed the SDF and its 'Anglophone' leadership as "enemie dans la maison",  making them wary of the party and its possibility of taking over power, if the latter will ever be possible.

  "The Biya government should discuss with Anglophones"

"These Anglophones have been marginalised and there is somebody there just sending forces of repression"  John Fru Ndi
 (Cameroon's English Speaking Separatists' by Francis Ngwa Niba, BBC , 5th October 2001).

The 'Front' jumped the gun, leading to its brief and unsustainable impact in the French Cameroon political arena. As long as the dignity of English speaking Cameroonians or Southern Cameroonians is not restored in its rightful context,  any participation in 'politics'  in ' Biya-like demo-crazy' is a farce. A real waste of time!

   " Although SDF members have been given the green light to belong to any anglophone         movement, it would appear that the party is losing its initial appeal for English-speaking Cameroonians because of its half-hearted stand as regards the 'Anglophone problem' "

( Anglophone Problem In Cameroon by Piet Konings and Francis B. Nyamnjoh- Journal Of Modern African Studies-published by Cambridge University Press, 1997)

The day the 'Front' starts highlighting the Southern Cameroons problem publicly and specifically and educating its 'Francophone' base about the importance of the cause,  and how it hopes to tackle it, the better for the future of the two Cameroons. No one can dodge the Southern Cameroons problem. No one can hide from it. Highlighting it can not be betrayal or a reason for alienation. It is a realistic problem and deserves no emotional tendencies to  water it down. It is an issue that stares at us and can not be ignored or downplayed.